You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

Welcome to BZPower!

Hi there, while we hope you enjoy browsing through the site, there's a lot more you can do if you register. The process is easy and you can use your Google, Facebook, or Twitter account to make it even faster. Some perks of joining include:

Create your own topics, participate in existing discussions, and vote in polls

Show off your creations, stories, art, music, and movies and play member and staff-run games

Enter contests to win free LEGO sets and other prizes, and vote to decide the winners

Participate in raffles, including exclusive raffles for new members, and win free LEGO sets

Send private messages to other members

Organize with other members to attend or send your MOCs to LEGO fan events all over the world

Much, much more!

Enjoy your visit!

You have clicked an external link, proceed at your own caution. External sites are not moderated by BZPower and may contain content inappropriate for minors.

Best of 2013

I was gonna do this yesterday but I forgot, and now everyone's beaten me to it

Oh well. Here's what I think were the best of... stuff... for this last year:

MUSIC: First off, because it's my prime passion, this year was fairly disappointing for me, as so many of my favourite artists released less than stellar albums. Megadeth, Black Sabbath, Volbeat, James LaBrie, Queensryche and others (while some were pretty good and others were awful) all were varying ranges of a letdown. However there were a few gems, with Haken, Dream Theater, Coheed & Cambria, Avenged Sevenfold, Alter Bridge, Fates Warning, Fish, Katatonia, etc...

It's a hard choice between some of these albums, but in the end I'll have to narrow it down to:

Coheed & Cambria's The Afterman: Descension for its glorious balance of metal, prog, pop and so many other things, and finally fully returning lead singer Claudio Sanchez's high register to the mix.

This, tied with Haken's masterful third release The Mountain, which is the freshest breath of air on the prog metal scene; it brings in masterfully complex vocal harmonies, unorthodox instrumentation and a sense of humour that usually lacks from the genre.

MOVIES: This was, conversely, a brilliant year for movies, with such gems as Iron Man 3, The Hobbit, Catching Fire, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Frozen, The Wolverine, and many others. However, as much as I loved all of them, and as much of a complete die-hard star trek nerd I may be, there were two absolutely clear winners:

These two movies stood above the rest for completely different reasons, but the end result is the same: two absolutely brilliant movies that are the best I've seen in years. Catching Fire was an almost completely faithful recreation of the book unlike its predecessor (and most novel-based movies) and it was just awesome. Frozen was a heartwarming/shattering, happy/sad, goofy/hard-hitting (at times) film like only Disney or Pixar can make. Disney seemed to have lost their footing for a while, but this, coupled with Tangled (which Frozen is, IMO, superior to) seems to be the start of a new era. Also it has a wonderful soundtrack that even I, a hard rocker, have listened to over and over for days.

Requiring less elaboration due to there not being many choices, here's a few more:

BOOK: House Of Hades by Rick Riordan - The ninth installment in the Percy Jackson series, this book shook things up just as they were starting to get stale with the last one.

TV SHOW: Gonna have to go with ABC's Castle. Yes, I love Nathan Fillion so that helps, but it's taken a left turn in its sixth season after a somewhat unsatisfying fifth, to include Indiana Jones-esque treasure hunts, time travellers, and much more. It's been a really fun season so far, and unlike Doctor Who or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't had many (if any at all) dud episodes.

and lastly, I have not played any games that were released this year, so I have no opinion on the matter. Really looking forward to Destiny soon, though!

Iron Maiden:-The Number Of The Beast (Remastered)-Piece Of Mind (Remastered)-Piece Of Mind (Vinyl)-Powerslave (Picture Vinyl)-Live After Death (2LP Picture Vinyl)-Somewhere In Time (Cassette)-Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (Cassette)-Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (Picture Vinyl)-Somewhere Back In Time: The Best Of 1980-1989-The Final Frontier-The Final Frontier (2LP Vinyl Picture Disc)

Jeff Wayne:-Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds (Vinyl)

Jethro Tull:-Aqualung (Vinyl)-Thick As A Brick (Vinyl)-A Passion Play (Vinyl)-M.U. - The Best Of Jethro Tull (Vinyl)

Metallica:-Ride The Lightning-Master Of Puppets-Master Of Puppets (Picture Vinyl)-...And Justice For All (Cassette)-...And Justice For All (2LP Vinyl)-...And Justice For All-Metallica (The Black Album)-Load-Reload (Cassette)-Reload-S&M With the San-Francisco Orchestra (3LP Vinyl)-St. Anger-Death Magnetic-Through The Never Live (Vinyl Single)-Beyond Magnetic [EP]

Mika:-Life In Cartoon Motion-No Place In Heaven (Deluxe French Edition)